As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we're presenting questions taken from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services' civics quiz.
Basically we're asking, how well do you know your U.S. history?
There are 100 questions on the test. The proctor can ask up to 10 questions. The applicant must answer six of those 10 questions correctly. It is an oral exam.
Here's a sample of 30 questions. You can find the other 70 on the Internet at tinyurl. com/uscis-quiz. Answers will be in Tuesday's paper.
1. What is the supreme law of the land?
2. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
3. What is one right or freedom from the First Amendment? (Can you name all five?)
4. What is the economic system in the United States?
5. What is the "rule of law"?
6. What stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful?
7. Who makes federal laws?
8. Why do some states have more representatives than other states?
9. If both the president and the vice president no longer can serve, who becomes president? (Do you know that person's name? Other questions in the test ask for the name of the current president and vice president.)
10. Who is the commander in chief of the military?
11. What are two cabinet-level positions? (Can you name all 16?)
12. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?
13. Who is the chief justice of the United States?
14. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government? (Four possible answers.)
15. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states? (Five possible answers.)
16. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
17. What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
18. What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy? (There are 10 answers. We especially like the last one on the list.)
19. There were 13 original states. Name three. (Can you name all 13?)
20. What happened at the Constitutional Convention?
21. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers. (Bonus points if you can name all three.)
22. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
23. What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803?
24. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
25. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
26. Who was president during World War I?
27. Before he was president, Dwight Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?
28. During the Cold War, what was the main concern of the United States?
29. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States. (Other geography questions ask which states border Canada and Mexico.)
30. Name one U.S. territory. (Bonus points if you can name all five.)
So how did you do? Could you ace this test?
Look for the answers on Tuesday's editorial page.
For bragging rights, log on to www.times-standard.com and go to the editorials. You can post your score there using the Facebook comment section.